systems, security systems, low-voltage, and audio systems. The building components also incorporate a roof rainwater collection system.

The building components are of three varieties: structural frame (recycled steel), infill and snap-cladding (natural fiber-reinforced resins – ideally, non-petroleum based). A variety of structural members snap-lock into place – while all infill and snap-cladding components utilize snap-lock connections. With snap-lock parts, components may be interchanged between homes, and the undamaged parts may be reused over and over. For conventional wood-based assemblies, deconstruction is very time consuming and expensive. Nails and glues are one-way assembly practices and are difficult to reverse/separate. Consequently, construction materials are seldom reused, and are lost to landfills. For example, “in 1998 the U.S. generated 136 million tons of waste from construction and demolition. Only 20 to 30 percent was recycled or reused.” A Characterization of Building-Related Construction and Demolition Debris in the United States, 1998.

Furthermore, Loq-kit is not a construction-based technology at all. Construction is a waste-producing process of modifying already produced raw materials to take on custom installations. Skilled carpenters cut and modify (in a factory or on site) materials that have already been manufactured, packaged and delivered as a finished product. Construction is a second fabrication of materials that produces vast amounts of waste. “Annually, builders in the United States generate approximately 31.5 million tons of construction waste, almost 24 percent of the total municipal solid waste stream in this country.” –– National Association of Home Builders, “Building a Balance: Solid Waste Disposal Environmental Education Fact Sheet,” 2004. In contrast, Loq-kit is a home-building technology that utilizes the paradigm of assembly. Assembly is the process of manufacturing components once, in their final configuration – ready for installation. Assembly produces almost no waste.

Sustainable Technology – How it Works:

Loq-kit introduces the concept of housing not as a product for sale, but as a service for homeowners and their families. The design and layout flexibility of the system employs the concept of interchangeable parts. When a customer purchases a Loq-kit house, they will also be purchasing a maintenance program. Loq-kit will provide their homeowners with lifetime care of their home. Should any component become undesirable in the future, either by failure or choice, the part will be replaced for free, or at minimal expense by Loq-kit. When a family grows, Loq-kit is available to add bedrooms to the house. The family will be credited for the no-longer needed components that are removed during the process of adding new spaces to the home. Because the components can be removed undamaged, they may be repackaged by Loq-kit for further cost reduction to other homeowners. This is an economically-sustainable program of reuse that assures that components do not end up in landfills. The lifetime care of homes by Loq-kit ensures that reused components are continuously routed through the company, where they may be graded for continued service. At a point where a component is judged to be sub-standard, Loq-kit can break the component down into singular materials for recycling into new components. Virgin material needs can be limited by an effective recycling program. This cradle to cradle service program of housing as an affordable system of mass-produced and interchangeable parts – rather than a one-time, waste producing product for sale, is the novel concept behind the Loq-kit house part’s 2nd place finish in the international C2C Home Competition.

Loq-kit embodies the concepts of affordability through mass-production, interchangeable parts, personalization, lifecycle service, and reuse. It is a system that employs green materials, new technologies, and introduces a program for providing affordable homes while eliminating construction waste.

To learn more about Loq-kit, please visit www.loq-kit.com.